Bess R
I thought this book was a little strange, but cool at the same time. I did not like how it ended. It seemed like the end of the book was like a cliffhanger that you would find at the end of a chapter. At the beginning, the book tells of Jacob's childhood, and the fantastic stories his grandfather tells him. Jacob wants to have an exciting life like Grandpa Portman, but as he gets older, the stories begin to get old. Jacob finds out that Grandpa's stories are just an exagerration of his horrible childhood as a Jewish boy during WWII. This is important because it proves to you that nobody believed Grandpa Portman. The story then skips ahead to the teenage Jacob. Grandpa Portman is starting to lose his mind, and he leaves Jacob a cal from him saying the monsters are coming for him. Jacob goes to his house to check on him, and finds the place ransacked, but there is no sign of Grandpa Portman except a trail of fooprints into the woods. Jacob goes into the woods and finds his Grandpa dying on the ground. Grandpa Portman says "Find the bird. In the loop. On the other side of the old man's grave. September 3rd, 1940. Emerson- the letter. Tell them what happened," then he dies. Jacob looks up and sees a monster in the woods, but it disappears. If I saw that, I would probably go insane, just like Jacob did. I mean, he saw the monster that haunted his childhood. Who wouldn't freak out a little? Also, those directions are a little confusing. I would think that it was just rambling that is the result of severe pain, probably he's a little senile, and shock. When you find out that all that he said was true, it is amazing. I can't believe that an injured, dying, and crazy old man was actually thinking straight. The thing with his confusing directions is that once you know a few more things about peculiar people, those instructions make perfect sense. The bird is Ms Peregrine because she technically is a bird. The loop is the time loop stuck on September 3rd. The other side of old man's grave is how you get there. Emerson and the letter are just another hint. Even with all the mystery and confusion in this book, the thing that stuck with me most was the wight. It is kind of freaky that he was Jacob's bus driver, yard man, therapist, and an old man living next to his grandfather. He was so good at accents and acting that he was able to be several different people. This book really made me think about life, death, and monsters.
Parker L
I really liked this book, even though is was kind of weird. I agree with Bess, I hated the ending. I hope that there is a sequel. I felt really bad for Grandpa Portman because everybody thought that he was crazy. No one believed that there really were monsters. For a while, I thought that he really was just crazy. But, as soon as Jacob saw the monster in the woods, I believed him. I wished that Jacob's friend who was with him when Grandpa Portman died had been able to see the monsters. I thought that Aunt Susie knew that Grandpa Portman was not ordinary, I just dont think that she knew what was odd about him. I couldn't picture Jacob at all. I think that there should have been a picture of Jacob in the book. Also, I never liked Dr.Golan. I thought that he might have been insane. I pictured him as a hippie, i am pretty sure that wasn't what the author intended. Even though the wights were evil, I thought that it was pretty cool that they could change their appearance and voice. I thought that it was interesting that the hollows turned into wights after being hollows for a long time. The wights were the henchmen and they seemed to be smarter and more clever than the hollows. In my previous experience, the henchmen are usually stupid. I also felt bad for Emma. Abe just left her without much of a warning. I felt that the rest of the peculiar children had never fallen in love with anyone. Except Bronwyn, I thought that she really loved Victor, but in a more sibling like way, not the way that Emma loved Abe.
I thought that this was a fascinating book. It was kind of creepy and very strange, but it definitely gave me a new perspective on World War Two. I agree that the ending was very annoying and completely set up for a sequel. This book was a mix of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and historical fiction. I have never read a book quite like it. The beginning of the book was almost like a Jerry Spinelli book with slightly eccentric characters in a normal setting. Grandpa Portman tells strange stories to Jacob, and he believes them while he is a child. As he gets older, people pressure him into not believing the stories. Monsters and magic all fade away into fantasies as Jacob grows up. After his grandfather is brutally murdered by a Hollow, Jacob realizes that his stories are true. He follows Grandpa Portman's confusing clue: Find the bird in the loop on the other side of the old man's grave. September 3rd, 1940. Emerson - the letter. The clue leads him to a remote island, Cairnholm, off the coast of Wales. There he discovers the Peculiars, a strange collection of children with weirdly amazing powers. My favorite character is probably Emma. She is quirky, spunky, and sweet. I feel like her personality normalized the book, toning the extremely unusual plot into something more relatable. She definitely helped relax my Willing Suspense of Belief. I think that the author was trying to send a message of acceptance to the readers. The theme of this book was accepting others for the good things about them, not the bad or the strange. The Peculiar children were obviously abnormal, but the book portrayed them as average children. They acted, talked, and had personalities just like any other child in that time. The author is telling the readers that we should accept people, and love them for who they are, not what they are.
-Nell MB
I thought that this was a phenomenal book. At first it made me wonder and I thought it was kind of weird or strange. Though when I took in the book more I realized it's beauty and excellence. I found it interesting at the beginning of the book that Jacob did not believe Grandpa Portman about the children even when he had proof with the amazing pictures and everything. Though when I truly thought about it I realized that if Grandpa Portman was my grandfather that I would not believe his stories and his detailed pictures either. When the adults in Jacobs life beguiled him into thinking that the thing that attacked Grandpa Portman was just a pack of wild dogs I was astonished. I could not believe that they did not believe him. It did not even seem as if Jacob had a reputation of lying until the end of the book.
I thought that when "Dr.Golan" let Jacob go to find Miss Peregrine that he was nice and he was trying to give Jacob new experiences. Though when I found out that Dr.Golan was a wight, the next door neighbor to his Grandfather, and the bus driver I just did not see that coming in a million years. Though I am kind of happy that Dr.Golan gave Jacob the consent to go because if he did not then his parents would have definitely said no. In the end though I feel as if this was a great experience for him to go and explore out of his home bounds. Though his parents do not seem to exactly care what is going on. It is like they care but he lies to his Dad multiple times and then when his Dad gets fed up with his lying he tells him to stop. After his Dad tells Jacob to tell the truth he tells him the truth and Jacob gets to go off with his friends because his Dad thinks he is dreaming. Jacob's Dad does not seem to enforce rules. Though throughout the book I felt as if it took me through an amazing journey.
Autumn A
This book was a little strange, the beginning was not so, well, capturing. As Nell said. I knew the author was trying to spread a message that we are all I guess strange in our own way. I didn’t think this worked in the beginning because when grandpa told about monsters no one believed him. That includes me. Then when grandpa died in the woods, and Jacob saw that monster I thought he was completely insane too. Later on, Jacob had to go to therapist to try to cure his “craziness.” These first few chapters really made me not so found of Jacob. Later in the book you find out that Grandpa was not completely insane, and he was actually telling the truth. This part also annoyed me because I thought it had too much of a mix of Fantasy and reality. That mixture did not go well with the theme the author was trying to say to the reader and like Bess I found my self jumping around from page too page.
Going back to the moment when Jacob saw the Hollow, I did think the author portrayed this scene beautifully. The disruption of the feeling inside Jacob’s mind was phenomenal. The physical description of this creature was very brief but the picture of the police sketch a couple of pages later was enough to tide me over. I also think Jacobs friend was a jerk. When Jacob told him that joke, I understood it was a little too far, but that is no excuse to abandon your friend in his time of need. I again was amazed that the police even sent a sketch artist to try and draw his images.
Unlike Nell I did not like Emma, she was too how do you say, bubbly. Overall I did not think I liked the book too much, it was too illogical. I also thought it was a copy off of X-Men. This book was very slow paced and you took half of the book just trying to figure out grandpa’s enigmatic clues.
-Porter Hunley
This was a great book, it was the best book that I have read so far. I thought that it was a good book because of the way the author made the reader figure things out the same time that the characters do and that makes the book more exiting. I did and did not like some parts of the book such as. I thought that it was good of his grandpa to not tell Jacob that he was peculiar and let him find out on his own, because I don't think that he would have believed his grandfather. If he finds out on his own then he would believe it and he would take it better. I also think that his father was very mean not to believe him and he still did not believe him after Emma, Olive, and Millard came, but I do think that the letter and the photo will help. I did not like the ending at all, I don't think that the author should have left the book on a cliffhanger like that. I really want to know what happens next after Jacob and the peculiar children see the battle ships.
"I had just come to except that my life would be ordinary when extraordinary things started the happen"
-Jacob Portman
I think that this is the most important quote in the book, because it pretty much explains the book. He is taken by surprise with a talent he never thought that he had and he had been thinking that he was just a normal child.
Plus I did not like Jacobs father because he never believed Jacob or his grandpa, and now it is going to make it even harder to realize that Jacob is gone and that all of this stories are true.
-Isaac S.
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children. Isaac W.
I liked this book at some times and at others it was difficult to read. For me the beginning of the book was the hardest to get through. Otherwise the book was good. What I don’t understand was why everyone in the loop liked Jacob so quickly. Also I think that if the kids had been in the loop for around 70 years why had they not trained and gotten stronger to fight the wights. If I was in the loop I would have. I liked when you find out Jacob’s life has been controlled by wights. I found that to be a good plot twist and it made sense in the end. I would like to know grandpa Portman’s story, and to know the story of the kids in the loop. I think a good book would be about the history of how the wights and shadows were made. I think that a lot of the characters had the same personality, I know that if anyone today was invisible they would be a lot more mischievous and try to take advantage of being invisible. I can understand why Jacob barely believe his grandfather, after Jacob grew to be suspicious his dad started telling him that the stories were fake. This made it so Jacob would have to find out about him being peculiar by himself. I think that Miss Peregrine being turned into a bird forever is just to keep an adult and a commanding voice out of the story. This is because that would make the book a lot more boring, especially the sequels. Also it gives a new goal to achieve for the kids. I liked this book and want to read the sequels. I wonder if they are going to find grandpa Portman?
Mrs. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Bess R
I thought this book was a little strange, but cool at the same time. I did not like how it ended. It seemed like the end of the book was like a cliffhanger that you would find at the end of a chapter. At the beginning, the book tells of Jacob's childhood, and the fantastic stories his grandfather tells him. Jacob wants to have an exciting life like Grandpa Portman, but as he gets older, the stories begin to get old. Jacob finds out that Grandpa's stories are just an exagerration of his horrible childhood as a Jewish boy during WWII. This is important because it proves to you that nobody believed Grandpa Portman. The story then skips ahead to the teenage Jacob. Grandpa Portman is starting to lose his mind, and he leaves Jacob a cal from him saying the monsters are coming for him. Jacob goes to his house to check on him, and finds the place ransacked, but there is no sign of Grandpa Portman except a trail of fooprints into the woods. Jacob goes into the woods and finds his Grandpa dying on the ground. Grandpa Portman says "Find the bird. In the loop. On the other side of the old man's grave. September 3rd, 1940. Emerson- the letter. Tell them what happened," then he dies. Jacob looks up and sees a monster in the woods, but it disappears. If I saw that, I would probably go insane, just like Jacob did. I mean, he saw the monster that haunted his childhood. Who wouldn't freak out a little? Also, those directions are a little confusing. I would think that it was just rambling that is the result of severe pain, probably he's a little senile, and shock. When you find out that all that he said was true, it is amazing. I can't believe that an injured, dying, and crazy old man was actually thinking straight. The thing with his confusing directions is that once you know a few more things about peculiar people, those instructions make perfect sense. The bird is Ms Peregrine because she technically is a bird. The loop is the time loop stuck on September 3rd. The other side of old man's grave is how you get there. Emerson and the letter are just another hint. Even with all the mystery and confusion in this book, the thing that stuck with me most was the wight. It is kind of freaky that he was Jacob's bus driver, yard man, therapist, and an old man living next to his grandfather. He was so good at accents and acting that he was able to be several different people. This book really made me think about life, death, and monsters.
Parker L
I really liked this book, even though is was kind of weird. I agree with Bess, I hated the ending. I hope that there is a sequel. I felt really bad for Grandpa Portman because everybody thought that he was crazy. No one believed that there really were monsters. For a while, I thought that he really was just crazy. But, as soon as Jacob saw the monster in the woods, I believed him. I wished that Jacob's friend who was with him when Grandpa Portman died had been able to see the monsters. I thought that Aunt Susie knew that Grandpa Portman was not ordinary, I just dont think that she knew what was odd about him. I couldn't picture Jacob at all. I think that there should have been a picture of Jacob in the book. Also, I never liked Dr.Golan. I thought that he might have been insane. I pictured him as a hippie, i am pretty sure that wasn't what the author intended. Even though the wights were evil, I thought that it was pretty cool that they could change their appearance and voice. I thought that it was interesting that the hollows turned into wights after being hollows for a long time. The wights were the henchmen and they seemed to be smarter and more clever than the hollows. In my previous experience, the henchmen are usually stupid. I also felt bad for Emma. Abe just left her without much of a warning. I felt that the rest of the peculiar children had never fallen in love with anyone. Except Bronwyn, I thought that she really loved Victor, but in a more sibling like way, not the way that Emma loved Abe.
I thought that this was a fascinating book. It was kind of creepy and very strange, but it definitely gave me a new perspective on World War Two. I agree that the ending was very annoying and completely set up for a sequel. This book was a mix of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and historical fiction. I have never read a book quite like it. The beginning of the book was almost like a Jerry Spinelli book with slightly eccentric characters in a normal setting. Grandpa Portman tells strange stories to Jacob, and he believes them while he is a child. As he gets older, people pressure him into not believing the stories. Monsters and magic all fade away into fantasies as Jacob grows up. After his grandfather is brutally murdered by a Hollow, Jacob realizes that his stories are true. He follows Grandpa Portman's confusing clue: Find the bird in the loop on the other side of the old man's grave. September 3rd, 1940. Emerson - the letter. The clue leads him to a remote island, Cairnholm, off the coast of Wales. There he discovers the Peculiars, a strange collection of children with weirdly amazing powers. My favorite character is probably Emma. She is quirky, spunky, and sweet. I feel like her personality normalized the book, toning the extremely unusual plot into something more relatable. She definitely helped relax my Willing Suspense of Belief. I think that the author was trying to send a message of acceptance to the readers. The theme of this book was accepting others for the good things about them, not the bad or the strange. The Peculiar children were obviously abnormal, but the book portrayed them as average children. They acted, talked, and had personalities just like any other child in that time. The author is telling the readers that we should accept people, and love them for who they are, not what they are.
-Nell MB
I thought that this was a phenomenal book. At first it made me wonder and I thought it was kind of weird or strange. Though when I took in the book more I realized it's beauty and excellence. I found it interesting at the beginning of the book that Jacob did not believe Grandpa Portman about the children even when he had proof with the amazing pictures and everything. Though when I truly thought about it I realized that if Grandpa Portman was my grandfather that I would not believe his stories and his detailed pictures either. When the adults in Jacobs life beguiled him into thinking that the thing that attacked Grandpa Portman was just a pack of wild dogs I was astonished. I could not believe that they did not believe him. It did not even seem as if Jacob had a reputation of lying until the end of the book.
I thought that when "Dr.Golan" let Jacob go to find Miss Peregrine that he was nice and he was trying to give Jacob new experiences. Though when I found out that Dr.Golan was a wight, the next door neighbor to his Grandfather, and the bus driver I just did not see that coming in a million years. Though I am kind of happy that Dr.Golan gave Jacob the consent to go because if he did not then his parents would have definitely said no. In the end though I feel as if this was a great experience for him to go and explore out of his home bounds. Though his parents do not seem to exactly care what is going on. It is like they care but he lies to his Dad multiple times and then when his Dad gets fed up with his lying he tells him to stop. After his Dad tells Jacob to tell the truth he tells him the truth and Jacob gets to go off with his friends because his Dad thinks he is dreaming. Jacob's Dad does not seem to enforce rules. Though throughout the book I felt as if it took me through an amazing journey.
Autumn A
This book was a little strange, the beginning was not so, well, capturing. As Nell said. I knew the author was trying to spread a message that we are all I guess strange in our own way. I didn’t think this worked in the beginning because when grandpa told about monsters no one believed him. That includes me. Then when grandpa died in the woods, and Jacob saw that monster I thought he was completely insane too. Later on, Jacob had to go to therapist to try to cure his “craziness.” These first few chapters really made me not so found of Jacob. Later in the book you find out that Grandpa was not completely insane, and he was actually telling the truth. This part also annoyed me because I thought it had too much of a mix of Fantasy and reality. That mixture did not go well with the theme the author was trying to say to the reader and like Bess I found my self jumping around from page too page.
Going back to the moment when Jacob saw the Hollow, I did think the author portrayed this scene beautifully. The disruption of the feeling inside Jacob’s mind was phenomenal. The physical description of this creature was very brief but the picture of the police sketch a couple of pages later was enough to tide me over. I also think Jacobs friend was a jerk. When Jacob told him that joke, I understood it was a little too far, but that is no excuse to abandon your friend in his time of need. I again was amazed that the police even sent a sketch artist to try and draw his images.
Unlike Nell I did not like Emma, she was too how do you say, bubbly. Overall I did not think I liked the book too much, it was too illogical. I also thought it was a copy off of X-Men. This book was very slow paced and you took half of the book just trying to figure out grandpa’s enigmatic clues.
-Porter Hunley
This was a great book, it was the best book that I have read so far. I thought that it was a good book because of the way the author made the reader figure things out the same time that the characters do and that makes the book more exiting. I did and did not like some parts of the book such as. I thought that it was good of his grandpa to not tell Jacob that he was peculiar and let him find out on his own, because I don't think that he would have believed his grandfather. If he finds out on his own then he would believe it and he would take it better. I also think that his father was very mean not to believe him and he still did not believe him after Emma, Olive, and Millard came, but I do think that the letter and the photo will help. I did not like the ending at all, I don't think that the author should have left the book on a cliffhanger like that. I really want to know what happens next after Jacob and the peculiar children see the battle ships.
"I had just come to except that my life would be ordinary when extraordinary things started the happen"
-Jacob Portman
I think that this is the most important quote in the book, because it pretty much explains the book. He is taken by surprise with a talent he never thought that he had and he had been thinking that he was just a normal child.
Plus I did not like Jacobs father because he never believed Jacob or his grandpa, and now it is going to make it even harder to realize that Jacob is gone and that all of this stories are true.
-Isaac S.
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children. Isaac W.
I liked this book at some times and at others it was difficult to read. For me the beginning of the book was the hardest to get through. Otherwise the book was good. What I don’t understand was why everyone in the loop liked Jacob so quickly. Also I think that if the kids had been in the loop for around 70 years why had they not trained and gotten stronger to fight the wights. If I was in the loop I would have. I liked when you find out Jacob’s life has been controlled by wights. I found that to be a good plot twist and it made sense in the end. I would like to know grandpa Portman’s story, and to know the story of the kids in the loop. I think a good book would be about the history of how the wights and shadows were made. I think that a lot of the characters had the same personality, I know that if anyone today was invisible they would be a lot more mischievous and try to take advantage of being invisible. I can understand why Jacob barely believe his grandfather, after Jacob grew to be suspicious his dad started telling him that the stories were fake. This made it so Jacob would have to find out about him being peculiar by himself. I think that Miss Peregrine being turned into a bird forever is just to keep an adult and a commanding voice out of the story. This is because that would make the book a lot more boring, especially the sequels. Also it gives a new goal to achieve for the kids. I liked this book and want to read the sequels. I wonder if they are going to find grandpa Portman?